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“Vince is a strong man,” he told her as he pulled out of the drive.
She gave a jerky nod. “I’m scared.”
“So am I. We’re all praying.”
She fumbled in her purse and pulled out her phone, but her hands were shaking so much she had trouble typing. She finally managed to get the message sent and leaned forward as if to make his truck go faster.
The hospital wasn’t far, but it felt like an eternity before he pulled into the lot. The ambulance came screaming past him into the ER bay. At least Vince hadn’t been pronounced dead at the scene. It was all the hope Lucas could cling to.
***
Carly had assembled the family in the living room, and Gram wore a mildly exasperated expression where she sat on the sofa. “Carly Ann, I have dinner to work on.”
“It’s only one, Gram. You have time, and this is something you need to hear. Something you willwantto hear.”
Carly glanced around the room and imprinted this moment in her memories. Isabelle held little Caroline on her lap in the chair, while Amelia and Emily were on the sofa with Gram between them. Noah sat in his bouncy seat and stared at sunbeams filtering through the glass.
She pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture of Elizabeth and Lainey before she knelt in front of her grandmother. “I want you to see something. Gather around, everyone.”
Her sisters crowded closer to peer at the phone too. Emily gasped first. “Who are they?” Her voice was a whisper.
Gram stared at the picture for a long moment, then looked up. “Is thatElizabeth?”
“Yes. We found your twin. She lives in Savannah, and she’s coming for dinner tonight. The other woman is her granddaughter, Lainey.”
“You two look enough alike to be twins yourself,” Amelia said. “I can’t believe you found her! Do they have the surprise?”
“I didn’t ask and I don’t want anyone to bring it up tonight either. It’s too soon. Let’s get acquainted first, and we can worry about the surprise later. This is more important.” She turned to their grandmother. “Gram has a twin sister and we have cousins!”
Her grandmother’s fingers drifted to her neck. “I-I just can’t believe it. I mean, of course I hoped we’d find her, but so many things could have happened. She could have died or moved so far away the chances of finding her were remote. And there she was, just an hour away. How many are coming tonight? I need to make sure I have enough food.”
“You always have plenty. I think it’s just Elizabeth, Lainey, and her husband. They don’t have children.”
“What about Lainey’s mother or father? Are there any other relatives?” Gram asked.
The front door opened and shut with a slam, and Ryan, covered in drywall dust, rushed into the living room. “Where’s Lucas?”
“At the bank. There was a robbery,” Carly said. “What’s wrong?”
“An officer was shot. It was Vince.”
The words fell like an anvil on her heart. “No, not Vince.”
“A gunshot to the chest. The ambulance just took him away.”
“He’s still alive?”
“Barely.” He held her glance. “The robbers tried to get to the egg, but the police response was too fast. They got away. Vince was shot trying to stop them outside. They got away in a boat in the chaos. And they had a key from what I hear.”
The key should have been in the safe. How had the robbersgotten one? “I need to get to Lucas,” she managed to say past the boulder in her throat. “He’s probably devastated.” Vince was a big teddy bear, and he’d been so good to her the night of the home invasion when Debby Drust had been shot.
“Bernard sent him to get Vince’s wife, Nellie. They’re probably at the hospital by now too.” Ryan took her arm. “I’ll drive you.”
“I need to take Noah. He’ll need to eat soon.” She scooped up the baby and his diaper bag before following Ryan. “I’ll drive myself. The car seat is in my vehicle.”
He stopped on the porch. “You sure?”
“Yes. I’ll drive, and you can ride with me.” She got the baby situated in his car seat, then got behind the wheel and sped toward the hospital, praying as she drove.
